paying attention

i'm going through the workbook "artist's way" with a group. it is an amazing book (i've tried twice to go through the book by myself and this time, it is wonderful to have other people joining in...i'm determined to make it through the 12 weeks this time!)

i love some of things the author said this week:

"attention is a way to connect and survive...

survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention...

the quality of life is in proportion, always to the capacity for delight. the capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention."

"develop interst in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music--the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interstings people. Forget yourself." [henry miller]


may you find delight in your days and may you pay attention to the moment you are in...

edna mae's blog is going live!

well, i'm moving forward with desiging baby books...can't wait...they have been so fun to work on!

help me decide on the colors for the albums at

ednamaeoriginals.blogspot.com

thanks!

too many thoughts. too few words

i've had so many thoughts, so many things i've been wanting to write about...that i haven't written anything! the first 6 months of thatch's life were hard...beautiful, but hard...and now i'm starting to have my head above water...and it feels pretty good. the last 3 months have been so wonderful. as a mother, as an artist, as a 30 year old looking head on into the next decade and looking back at all the wonderful lessons i have learned and experienced in my 20s...i have a new energy (it's amazing what a little extra sleep will get you) a desire to become a better person, a healthier person. a desire to push my creativity to its limits.

and now my energy is going crazy. i have so many things i want to do, but oh so many things i have to do. i have to pay the bills. but i also want to spend the time to get my company going. i want to learn to cook in a completely different and healthy way (that includes butter being good for you and the good fat, and i don't just mean the unsaturated kind...more on that beast in later posts...amazing what the book nourishing traditions has done for me) i want to sit on the floor all day and watch thatch as he is changing so rapidly...but there seems to be 10 times more work to do around the house with this little bundle of joy in my life.

life is crazy. life is simple. life is good.

family pics

we took some family pics this month (thanks natalie! more pics on thatch's blog) it was a beautiful day last weekend and we took advantage of it in the park...and the weather has drastically changed since then...now we are in the middle of an "artic blast" (as the reporters call it) it is quite the snowy weather for portland. i'm loving it. and it makes me miss the long snow winters of minneapolis.

your love is deep

i love singing...and thatch has become my excuse to sing. he is soothed by my voice and that is the coolest thing. i've been singing over him before he goes to sleep for his naps...and different songs have come into my head. lately i have been singing "your love is deep" by jami smith...a beautiful song and a reminder i need everyday about how amazing God's love is...

Your love is deep
Your love is high
Your love is long
Your love is wide

Deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled

Who shall separate us
Who shall separate us from Your love
Nothing can separate us
Nothing can separate us from Your love

on plastic

great blog i found on ways to reduce plastic we use...

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/

i liked her list from last year too:

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/10/list.html

i think i'm going to try buying dry goods in bulk at new seasons...and maybe even buy shampoo in a bar to avoid the plastic bottle...

family and christmas trees

wow. what a few weeks! went to oklahoma, stayed with my parents for a few days, then to stillwater for the funeral and to spend time with travis' family...then to north carolina to see travis' parents and little brothers for thanksgiving. it was so good to spend time with family! thatch was very entertaining, he is at such a fun age!

thatch and i have flown the last 3 saturdays. whew! he has become quite the traveler. he did so good...and he did great with all the different places we stayed. i'm so proud of him. and he was smiling at everyone on the plane. he would look at people just waiting for them to smile at him.




we got back into town last night...and today we went to get our christmas tree. thatch's first christmas. he has no idea, but it is still exciting.

jonathan friend

yesterday morning travis' grandpa, jonathan friend passed away. he was an amazing, godly man and we will miss him terribly. i think he touched everyone he knew. travis and him were very close...they were kindred spirits. he was a huge part of travis' life growing up...living just a few miles away and working on the farm with him in the summers. he is the type of man that has a very gentle quiet spirit, patient, loving, and he lights up when he tells you stories about the farm. he reminds me a lot of travis.

we were able to see him this summer and he said to thatch "i can't tell you how proud i am of you." travis, his grandpa, and his brothers took a trip to the farm this summer, soaking up the memories. and we were able to spend several days with him. we only wish we could have seen him one last time.

edna mae on etsy

check out my cards and vintage jewelry at my etsy shop:

ednamae.etsy.com

november already?

i can't believe it is already november. thatch is 7 months old and just so much fun. he is SO happy. and he smiles with his eyes...i just love it. he is army crawling everywhere. and we are finally making progress on our sleep at night. we are both getting more sleep and let me tell you, it is feeling very nice! he makes me laugh all the time. it is fun watching his little personality start to come out...and i'm anxious to see it come out more and more...but i have to stop myself and soak up these precious baby moments right now. i have to consciously stop and enjoy his head leaning on my shoulder. his coos. his laughter. his smiles. him grabbing at everything he can get his hands on. him sticking everything in his mouth to investigate it. him always moving...he is quite the wiggle worm. his curiousity. this stage is wonderful and i feel very lucky that i am able to work at home. freelance is a little slower right now...i'm starting to feel the effects of the economy...but it gives me a chance to push edna mae originals forward. (and btw the website is down right now b/c issues with my domain provider. if you are wanting card packs please let me know!) i'm going to be working on baby books next. can't wait to start desiging them. i've been designing pages in my mind and i need to get them out on paper! so much fun!

life as i know it

life is good. right now i'm listening to the "chair and a microphone" (enter the worship circle) and drinking a thatch brew...while travis is making his own "wort chiller" for his brewing...and enjoying my son being asleep upstairs...

my days consist of cleaning bottles, making baby food, singing songs, and designing during naps. i look forward to going to trader joes or whole foods and taking walks. life is pretty simple for me right now. my schedule revolves around thatch, and right now, that is exactly what i want to be doing. i don't get out as much as i like, but i get out enough. i'm getting use to travis' schedule. i'm getting up before the sun comes up...but i get up to a boy smiling at me and it's worth it. we are starting to get into a rhythm...although thatch is not about to get on a schedule...and that's okay.

the coast

travis, thatch and i had a little family trip this week...it was so relaxing and great to get away...to my favorite place, the coast. we tried out pacific city and really liked it. ate at pelican brewery and tried their delicious brews. enjoyed stimulus, a coffee shop (several times), walked the beach, hung out on our balcony...it was superb. it was just for a night, but just long enough. thatch was so good and slept in the hotel room so well...(i'm not quite ready for camping with thatch just yet) he even took a nap as we walked along the beach. we had so much fun.

photo booths are so cool...

today was a beautiful day...travis, thatch and i went for a picnic at washington park, then walked around downtown and enjoyed the farmers market, stumptown coffee and took pics at a photobooth. it was a wonderful afternoon!

oh, the things i've learned!

the last 5 months have been "wonderfully hard" as another mother put it. challenging, sleepless, and absolutely wonderful...here are some things i've learned in the last few months:

natural childbirth was the most exhilarating experience. it was amazing...and i would do it again in a heartbeat. (just not anytime soon)

follow your instinct. baby books are informative and other mothers have great advice, but in the end, even if you feel clueless, you really do have a gut feeling about what is best for your child...i think i'm going to follow it a little more, and worry about what other people think a little less...and give other parents a little more grace on the decisions they make for their children.

i have gained so much respect for mothers...it's a hard job, but well worth every second.

don't get your nose pierced when you have a 2 month old. you don't have time to brush your teeth, let alone soak your stinkin' nose twice a day.

never say you won't do something...i never thought i would be singing "skin-am-rinkee-dinky-dink" all the time to get such wonderful smiles out of my little boy, among many many other things.

i have the most amazing husband...he has been my strength...and housekeeper, and cook. it was so wonderful to have him home for 2 months while he was on paternity leave. and he is an incredible father. thatch lights up every time he is in the room. we've had so much fun being parents together and i'm looking forward to each day as we watch thatch grow!

fruit in season didn't mean anything to me until i moved to oregon...and oh is it wonderful...the blueberries are delicious right now!

hike

trav went on a beautiful hike yesterday and this was the view of mt hood! (on top of zigzag mountain)

good quotes from the book "walking on water" (a book about faith an art...a great read)

"Unless we are creators, we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter what our vocation, or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career..."

"In art...we move, unfettered, among the stars."

"When we are writing, or painting, or composing, we are, during the time of creativity, free from normal restrictions, and are opened to a wider world, where colours are brighter, sounds clearer, and people more wondrously complex than we normally realize."

home sweet home

wow. traveling with a baby is quite the experience. whew. pre-kid traveling was so relaxing. i loved working on the plane, reading, just enjoying the experience. now my mind is planning when i can feed thatch, when and how he'll sleep...and carrying the extra load...and no room for my stuff in my back pack...

thatch did an amazing job. he really did. we had no major meltdowns and even received complements from fellow travelers. wahoo!

and the week with family was great. busy, but great. we were ablle to see lots of extended family at trav's cousin's wedding and in both our hometowns in oklahoma. it was so good to see everyone. if only oregon were closer to them! (pictures of thatch with family coming shortly to his blog)

but i am exhausted. hopefully i can use today to recover before work tomorrow!

ahh, life is good!

this past week was wonderfully superb...

with "women & wine" at sarah's house, it was so fun to hang out with the women from evergreen and just enjoy a night out...fun conversations, great wine and food...couldn't be better.

and then the wonderful 4th of july with fellow evergreeners. i loved that people just hung out for hours on end with no agenda and no place to go. the weather was AMAZING! and it was so relaxing. i left with a huge smile on my face and so thankful for the community around us.

and i spent the weekend finishing "same kind of different as me" a wonderful book. i love 3 day weekends, i wish i had them every week!

and i just bought shane claiborne's book, "jesus for president" not sure i love the title but i've heard it is great!